October 2009

October 16, 2009

How To Make Bass Fishing Christmas Cards

For the majority people, Christmas time means shopping for gifts, cards and presents for their friends, family, co-workers and many others. Unfortunately, shopping for Christmas often times creates a lot of stress and burden for people due to the fact that they have to go out, fight the crowds and pay retail prices for the Christmas gifts they buy.


Now, you can get all of your Christmas gifts and supplies including ornaments, trees, cards, crafts and cookies at discount prices online and at the same time, same lots of time! Like the bass fishing Christmas card, they are also available online.

We all know that almost everybody in Florida is fascinated with bass fishing. They even consider bass fishing as their number one freshwater sport.

Most of these anglers have built bass fishing services because of them; bass fishing is already a hard habit to break.

Not only that, some of them would even make Christmas cards inspired from bass fishing. They do this as an effective business product especially on the holiday seasons or any other special occasions.

For children, Christmas cards are colorful and are usually printed with jokes, stickers, or games. There are also special Christmas cards that hold money or gift cards. For adults, Christmas cards are often either traditional or humorous. And most of the adults get their Christmas cards on the Internet.

Like Bass Fishing Christmas Cards which can be redeemed for online purchases, catalog orders, and purchases.

Most Bass Fishing Gift Cards are mailed separately to the shipping address of your choice. Such as:

• Bass Fishing Christmas Cards delivered in 3-6 business days.

• Catalog(s) or the gift cards are shipped separately.

• Free standard shipping to US zip codes

• Gift Card amounts are in US funds

Not only that, here’s your second choice…

Most Bass Fishing Greeting Cards businesses provide a great way to send a gift almost instantly to your favorite outdoor enthusiast. Simply provide them with the dollar amount and they will email a Gift Card that can be used immediately.

These are important reminders on how you can get the card that you order:

• Most Bass Fishing Christmas Gift Cards are delivered within four hours if ordered during normal business hours. Otherwise they may take 4 to 24 hours to be delivered.

• These gift cards are usually delivered without any problems. However, a full inbox, invalid email address, or a spam filter can prevent the greeting card from reaching the recipient’s inbox. In order to be certain that a Gift Card has been received, please check with the recipient.

• Gift Cards are available for U.S. orders only and are in US funds.

• Catalogs will not be mailed, but current catalogs can be viewed online.

And here is your third choice, if you want your bass fishing Christmas card to be more memorable do it yourself. It’s the thought that counts, not the amount anyway!

An ordinary hand-made Christmas card is very special, how much more if it was motivated by bass fishing? Very peculiar is it not? And yet too easy!

Here’s what you will need:

a piece of card 17cm x 25cm

a piece of crepe paper or tissue paper slightly smaller than the card

several pieces of colored paper, recycled or interesting texture

metallic braid or cord, or colored ribbon inspire

ruler

glue

scissors

pinking shears

and of course do not forget your pictures with the bass fishes (have it scanned please)

And here’s the easy way to do it:

1. Carefully fold the piece of card in half.

2. Use a very small amount of glue to fix the tissue paper inside the card as a lining.

3. Trim a piece of colored paper with pinking shears, so that it measures 13cm x 8cm. Glue it to the front of the card, leaving an equal margin on each side.

4. Cut a simple shape – a Christmas tree, a star, bells etc. – from an interesting paper of a toning or contrasting color. Glue the shape to the front of the card.

5. When you are done with that, edit the picture that you have just scanned. You can use Paint Shop Pro for it.

There you have it, just use your creativity and you’ll have a Bass fishing Christmas card to give to a bass fishing enthusiast.

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Filed under Bass Fishing by bombertackle

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October 15, 2009

Going Bass Fishing With Your Family

Bass fishing is one of America’s top pastimes. Many people indulge in this activity for their therapeutic wonders. Great relaxation and the exhilarating feeling of catching a big bass fish is its biggest drawing power. Many memorable times are experienced between friends and family on these bass fishing trips.


Not all states are blessed with having great places to go bass fishing. Residents of Florida though have a great reason to be happy because they are one of the states in America that do have many places to bass fish in. In fact, many of these lakes are transformed to wonderful bass fishing trip destinations.

Many of them have been developed, provided with lodging and rental establishments to cater to the needs of the bass fishers. Aside from that, there are also many interesting side trips you can take your family to. Florida bass fishing is an adventure that will be remembered for a lifetime.

Southwest Florida has already acquired worldwide recognition for its exceptionally rich saltwater fishing, but its richer freshwater fishing could never be forgotten by anyone who has tried the bass fishing opportunities there.

Local residents are brought together by series and regular competitions organized by three very active freshwater clubs in Collier Country. There are also some open competitions that can be enjoyed by out of town fishermen. They can either compete or just plain watch the excitement going on.

Friendly tournaments are a great common focus of all of these clubs. Other fish species are never left unnoticed and untargeted, that makes Florida not just famous for bass fishing.

The state of Florida is blest with beautiful and rich lakes that are good for fresh water fishing. This could be enjoyed throughout its southwest regions; there are also ponds, canals and creeks in other places that have good number bass fish content.

There are also websites created to provide information and invitations for bass fish loving and catching aficionados to come, sample and prove that not all big fish are caught by professional fishermen.

These websites provide great details on what you will discover and experience in Florida when you go there. They center on the bass fishing aspect of the trip and also the other activities you can do while being there. They also would help you out plan your trip and set up an itinerary.

The resort owners and the local tourist boards create most of these websites. They provide great services as well as packages for either as small or large group. They will provide you with all the information you may ever need about bass fishing in Florida.

Guided tours are also offered and guides in bass fishing as well. For those just starting out in bass fishing, Florida has some of the best Bass fishermen to help you and teach you as well as share some of their experienced tips. They know all the best spots to go to and the best gears to use.

One of these places is Lake Kissimmee in Central Florida. Experience the thrill of fishing for giant lunker largemouth bass in this famous lake resort. They have comfortable lodgings as well as great rentals for anyone who wants to try to catch the “big one”. Aside from that, Lake Kissimmee is just a stone’s throw away from Walt Disney World, Sea World, Universal Studios, and the metropolitan Orlando area, this means that even the kids would enjoy the other aspects of this bass fishing trip in Florida. You will see and enjoy the perfect “real Florida” getaway adventure everyone would like to have in his or her lifetime.

Aside from the Kissimmee Chain of Lakes, you can go to Stickmarsh/Farm 13, Blue Cypress, and Walk-in-Water any time for more bass fishing. The famous Indian River Lagoon offers fishing for Redfish, Snook, Trout, and Tarpon aside from bass fishing. You get a variety of catches.

So plan that bass fishing Florida trip now, visit the websites that can show you the highs of any trip done to Florida. You can just type in the keyword at any search engine and see for yourself how a weekend or a week of Florida Bass fishing could provide for you and your family.

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Filed under Bass Fishing by bombertackle

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October 13, 2009

Bass Boat Buying Blues!

Unless fishing is your way of making a living, it’s supposed to be fun. It’s always enjoyable for me because I don’t fish for bass, at least not on purpose! Bass fishing is a lot like work and by nature I’m a lazy man, who has never had the slightest interest in past times that require more than a minimum amount of effort. Besides, it can be an expensive hobby if you’re going to be a serious bass fisherman.


Assuming that you do want to invest a small fortune in bass fishing, whether it’s for small mouth or large mouth bass, your first priority is to buy a real genuine bass boat. Just any old boat won’t do. You can’t troll around the lake in an old boat with a minnow and hook, if you’re going to be considered a real bass fisherman. You have to have a great looking boat that looks like it’s going 60 miles an hour when it’s still tied up to the dock!

Buying a new boat is always a very traumatic experience, especially if you take your wife along on your boat shopping expeditions. No matter what brand of bass boat catches your eye, it’s an easy guess that she won’t recognize the importance of such an investment, once she recovers from the sticker shock of new water crafts.

Marriages have been known to disintegrate almost over night when the spouse accompanies her husband on a boat purchasing venture. Most wives are simply unable to wrap their minds around the idea that their husbands could joyfully spend the equivalent of a year’s salary on a bass boat! She immediately thinks of things she considers more important things on which to spend that money, like a new car, room additions and college for the kids!

In addition, wives have this notion that if you’re on the lake all weekend fishing, you’re not thinking of her all alone at home. For the most part she’s right! It’s very difficult to think of anything except that huge fish you’re going to mount on the wall of your den. That’s why you’ve spent thousands of dollars on a bass boat!

Some marriages though, are actually made in heaven! When both partners in this perfect union like to fish more than staying at home and cutting the grass on the weekend, then buying a boat is a no-brainer. The only question is how big a boat and how many amenities can they stuff into craft without it sinking!

No, purchasing a boat and motor is not an easy job, even when both spouses are in one accord about fishing. The cost of a new bass boat today is astonishing! Usually the wife is the conservative one in the boat purchasing negotiations, sometimes leaving the husband, feeling that he made a huge mistake in allowing her to share in his big adventure!

For instance, wives rarely see the necessity for having a different propeller than the one that came standard with the boat. They don’t know that you have to buy a new one that fits your own individual specifications. I don’t believe anyone really knows why you do this, but I’ve never bought a boat that worked well with the prop that came with the boat.

For three or four hundred dollars more, you can get a different one. The prop dealer won’t take your old one in on trade most of the time, so you’re stuck with one hanging from a nail in the garage.

There are other small expenditures. We’re talking fish finders, state of the art sonar systems, global positioning units, short wave radios, anchors, rod holders and extra cushioned seats on the fishing craft of your choice. All in all, most new bass boats today cost more than my first house.

All these trials and tribulations are just a small part of being a bass fisherman. This is just the beginning. The boat is not even in the water yet!

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October 12, 2009

California Ocean Fishing – All About Calico Bass

This kelp bass (Paralabrax clathratus) was pho...
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Calico Bass (Paralabrix clathratus), or more properly called, Kelp Bass are the mainstay of the Southern California inshore recreational fishery. This grouper-like sea bass is popular for excellent table fare and skill required hooking and landing them consistently. Easily recognized by the squarish white spots all over the fish, Calicos are the most numerous fish inhabiting the extensive kelp forests of Southern California. Any half-day party boat in the summer months will generally target either Calico Bass or their cousins, Sand Bass.

Calico Bass range in size up to nearly two feet long and 18 lbs. Any fish over about four pounds in California and seven pounds in Baja is considered a real trophy. They range from Central California to central Baja but are common only from Point Conception to Punta Abreojos. Some of the better Calico Bass spots include the kelp beds near the offshore islands in Southern California and the Mexican Islands of Guadalupe, Cedros, and the San Benitos island group. Along the coast, the kelp beds near La Jolla and Point Loma, near San Diego are the best places north of the border for Calico Bass. South of the border, along the seldom fished, desolate, Mexican coast, any of the near shore kelp forest stands can be extremely good for Calico Bass fishing. Though Calicos are predominantly a summer fish, they do not migrate and can be caught all year round near many of kelp beds. The farther south you go, the less seasonality the fish seem to show. Catching Calico Bass

Kelp Bass are voracious feeders. Many a fisherman has had the experience of tossing an 8 or 9 inch long brown bait (herring) right into the fringes of the kelp bed thinking he would hook a trophy sized bass, only to have the huge bait inhaled by an 11 inch fish (too small to be kept). Calicos readily take any of the more common live baits including anchovies, sardines, brown herring, and squid. In certain times of the year, they’ll eagerly snap up strips of cut squid as well. Most Calico fishermen fly line for bass, that is use no weight, simply a hook tied to the end of the line with a frisky live bait hooked such that it will swim easily. This is gently tossed to the fringes of kelp beds and allowed to take line freely.

In addition to kelp beds, Calicos often inhabit shallow water reefs and can be caught at many of these techniques by using a sinker to get bait down into the structure. Sunken ships are great places to locate Calicos. They also frequent the seawalls in and around harbors and many bays where moorings or other bottom structure provides suitable shelter.

As for lures, many fishermen toss heavy iron, that is, candy bar or bone jigs along the fringes of the kelp beds to lure the bashful bass from their leafy homes to snap at a well presented jig. In addition, lead headed rubber swim baits, particularly the single tailed shad bodied lures in blue & silver or green and white are an excellent choice for Calico Bass. The effectiveness of such lures is improved by the addition of a long thin strip of squid to the hook of the lure. A thin strip will usually outperform a chunk, since it doesn’t restrict the natural swimming action of the lure.

Some fishermen use swimming plug lures such as Rapalas, Rebels, and the like, for these bass. They take these artificial lures readily. A few private boat fishermen who use tackle and techniques very similar to fresh water bass fishing have some success, toss and crank, toss and crank, but most ocean fishermen seem reluctant to abandon their tried and true salt water techniques.

There are a number of old pros at Bass fishing that use small boats and trolling techniques running right close to rocks and underwater structure and really catch lots of quality fish. The secret is to keep your trolling line short, like maybe 15 feet or so and slow troll as close as you can to rock walls, boiler rocks, semi submerged wrecks, etc. – anywhere where there is shallow structure and places for Calicos to hide. Rapalas, jointed Rebels, and other swimming plugs are the best ticket for this type of fishing. This is not for the faint of heart and the bashed up bottoms of the aluminum boats these fishermen use are testament to the caution needed.

Kelp Bass also take flies. Larger, blue and white streamer flies imitating anchovies such as Clouser minnows and Lefty’s deceivers seem to do the best coupled with a shooting head, sinking line. Though they’ll sometimes boil on the surface to feed they usually prefer to stay from a few feet below the surface to the mid water depths. Calicos are ambush feeders unlike many surface fish who run down heir prey. Calicos tend to sit in cover waiting for an unsuspecting prey to happen by, so the most effective technique when fly fishing is by presenting the fly as a nervous but unsuspecting bait fish with twitchy but slow movements as opposed to fast ripping retrieves so many other ocean fish seem to enjoy.

Preparing Calico Bass

Calicos are almost universally filleted. They’re rarely cut into steaks owing to their small size and low oil content. For this reason, they’re generally not prepared whole since the belly meat, head, collar, and other parts contain little worthwhile. The roe is hardly worth picking out of the viscera.

Eating Calico Bass

Calico Bass is considered tops eating by many people, especially those who like extremely mild, low oil content fish. They’re probably best fried since oil is added during the cooking. They’re also great baked, especially when butter or olive oil is added. Sauteing is another great option since it, also adds flavorful oil. You can eat them raw as sashimi, especially if the fish is filleted and iced down quickly to tighten the meat, but it’s too mild for many a sushi aficionado’s palette, and it will pickle as in ceviche, but again, the low oil content makes them a bit mild for this also. For the same reason, they don’t smoke very well. Stick with frying, sauteing or baking for best results.

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October 11, 2009

Wireline Trolling for Bass

Overview. Wireline trolling is a techinique that is used by many thousands of New Englanders every year to catch striped bass. It can be very productive if you know what your doing, but many people think you simply put the line out and motor around in your boat to catch fish, and are surprised when they see others catch fish after fish in the same area and apparently doing the same thing and even using the same rig. Well, there must be something different. Knowing where the fish are holding, what their feeding on and the speed to troll at are just some of the considerations to take into account.


Where are the Fish. You have to go where the fish are, not where you want them to be. You also have to go when the fish are there, not when you want them to be there. For any kind of Bass fishing, early morning is usually the best. Early in the season they may feed throughout the day, but as the season progresses and the sun gets higher in the sky you won’t find them feeding during the day unless there is tide and a lot of bait or a weather pattern to entice them into activity. You may find them holding on structure and be able to catch them but its pretty certain that there is something in the way of food down there to keep them interested. If the fish are holding on structure, you have to present your offering over that structure, if you are off by 50′ there is no joy. If you are trolling and mark and catch fish, turn around and keep going over the spot until you stop catching. Don’t go trolling away unless your damn sure there is something better to head to. And don’t spend too much time trolling around a spot and not catching.

Tides and currents. Bass are ambush predators and a current will provide them with the opportunnity to lay in wait for a small creature to be swept past their position so they can gobble it up. It is the current generated by the tides you need to pay atention to. An example of this would be the Block Island North reef. The currents there provide areas which bass like to use as ambush points, and some of these are places to troll wireline.

Trolling Speed. Never troll at the same speed all the time if it isn’t working. Often fish will follow your offering and are waiting for that trigger that tells them that their prey has detected them. Speed up, slow down, change speeds, speed up during your turns. You will be surprised how many times you hook up fish immediately or very soon after a speed change. Sometimes only going at a particular slow speed works, or a particularly fast speed. The most important thing to do is pay attention to what is going on when you hook up. You need to notice if it is always during a speed change, only when you go fast, only when you go very slow, etc. If you speed up and turn, and the inside line picks up a fish, you may not have enough line out since the inside line will usually go deeper, the outside line shallower.
Current can be used to control your speed. If you want to go very slow, troll directly into the current. There is one area I fish trolling to the same spot and slowing down as the boat gets near it, going into the current. At times we are barely moving forward, and when I reach the spot on my GPS one or both rods will go down with fish on (tide is very important in this case.) There are times when you will catch most of your fish only trolling in one direction in relation to the current. Pay attention to what is happening when you hook up.

Trolling Depth. This is extremely important. Your depth finder can mark a million fish below 30′ but if your trolled rig is only 20′ deep you will end up being very frustrated and catching very few fish. Your offering must be presented in the “strike zone”, which is the area close enough that the fish will be interested in hitting your lure. This strike zone can be very large when fish are feeding aggressively, or very small if they are “turned off”.
If you see fish smashing bait on the surface, try letting out a small amount of wireline and troll around the feeding fish, not through the middle of them. So many fisherman shut down the fishing very quickly by trolling through the middle of breaking fish. It is the most idiotic thing they can do. You need to have the lure down near the bottom if you are targeting Bass that aren’t feeding aggressively near the surface. If you are in water under 30′ deep, it is only necessary to be within 5′ of the bottom unless the fish are very sluggish. In deeper water. light penetration becomes an issue and it is necessary to get as close to the bottom as you can without dragging.
The rule of thumb is to let out 10 feet of wire for every 1′ of depth. This is varied by boat speed and the weight of your lure. Naturally, going slower will cause the rig to go deeper and faste will cause it to run shallower. Remember, if you aren’t dragging bottom once in a while, you’re trolling too shallow.

Matching the Hatch. You need to troll an offering which is representative of what the fish are feeding on. If there are hordes of sand eels then you shouldn’t be trolling 6″ soft plastic shads. Bass most often eat bunker, sand eels, and squid. Lures that represent these species are ones you should have available to you. If you catch a keeper, open up its stomach and see what it has been feeding on.

Sport Fishing. This is supposed to be a sport. Keeping the boat in gear and continuing to troll after you have hooked up a fish is winching, not fishing. I have seen so many bass skipping across the surface of the water as they are being reeled up, it’s absolutely ridiculous. You should be fighting the fish and not the boat. Where is the fun in that? So the advice is take the boat out of gear after you hook up.

By following the guideleines presented here the reward will be more success for your fishing trips. The last and most important piece of advice when your not catching is this: remember to ask yourself: “what do I need to change?” Are you going too fast, using the wrong rig, trolling too shallow, etc. Watch what other people are doing, it may give you a clue. Catch ‘em up!

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Striped Bass Behavior and Habits

{{en| Title: Striped Bass Alternative Title: M...
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Everyone loves fishing for stripers, also known as striped bass or linesiders. There is something magical about them that appeals to everyone who fishes saltwater in Rhode Island. The Ocean state is blessed with very good fishing overall and many people come here from Mass, Conn, New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvannia to fish and vacation here. Knowing a little about the habits of these fish can help you catch more of them.

Bass are not high speed swimmers. They are good at short bursts of activity during which they can go very fast, but cannot maintain those speeds over any distance. Like many migratory species, they will use tidal currents to help them get where they want to go. During the spring when they first arrive in our waters on Narragansett Bay, they are full of energy and will chase large schools of bait for miles, feeding as they go. These are good times when pretty much anything you put in the water will catch them, and they are very abundent and aggressive. Once the bait settles in and finds places to hide out or moves on, so too do the bass settle in. Then it becomes more difficult to find them during the daylight hours. Bass have very large eyes and no eyelids, their eyes are not exaclty like ours in that they cannot adjust as well to the bright full-day sunlight. Striper eyes are very good for seeing in low light and night conditions. They also feed more actively during the day when its foggy or overcast, since this reduces the light level available. So if it’s a bright and sunny July day and it’s around 11:00am, probably not a good time to choose to get out there and catch stripers. If its going to be overcast and gloomy all morning, this is a great time to get out there and target them. Nighttime is also another good time to fish for stripers, but the low visibility also brings danger to the boater and fisherman from rocks, bouys, other boats, etc. Going down a narrow channel at night that is lined with rocks on both sides, that’s a good example of white-knuckle fishing.

Striped Bass, like many Saltwater fish species, have a lateral line organ which they use to sense vibrations in the water. They can sense vibrations out to a good distance, because water is much denser and transmits these vibrations much farther than air would. This is how they first zero in on a prospective meal. Contrary to what most anglers may think, the last sense they use to decide to make a strike is visual. When in an area of extremely strong current, the current itself causes so much vibration that the bass will be forced to use visual acquisition or smell only, making it much harder to catch them since the strike zone will be very short. I can hear some of you naysaying, but for those of us who dive in New England waters, we can attest to the very poor visibility, especially as you go deeper. At 40’ depth, a good day and very clear water will give you around 10’ of visibility. If it’s not clear, this can easily drop to 3’. If we consider the average around 6’, you can see it might be very difficult to get your offering within visual range of a striper. Rattles, violent movement, hefty jigging with a parachute jig, these all send out waves of vibrations that bass can detect and zero in on. Virtually any plug designed for bass fishing has rattles in it, so there must be something to it.

In the early morning light does not penetrate very far into the water and bass can be found chasing what bait there may be in very shallow water. The bait seeks the shallow water in an attempt to avoid the predators. As the sun gets higher in the sky, bass will move into deeper water to avoid the bright light. So when you first start fishing, fish shallow water and as the sun gets higher you move into deeper water. If the water is murky, the bass are more likely to stay in the shallow water and feed.

Where will you find bass? Usually around structure, such as drop offs, high points, boulders, rocks, and reefs, especially where there is a good tidal current that runs past. The bait that bass feed on also use current to aid them when they travel and will also use reefs and rocks to hide from predators. Bass can be very aggressive and chase bait, but much of the time they will wait in ambush for a bait to sweep by or come out of hiding so they can pounce on it. This is why current can be so important to feeding, and why when the tide runs out fishing can turn off like a light switch. Stripers will often cruise the shallow edge of the beach in the early morning, following the direction of the tide looking for bait. Don’t forget that a sharp eye should be kept for bass feeding on bait at the surface, since this happens very often and can hard to spot at a distance. You should always have an 8×50 or 10×50 pair of binoculars on board your boat for long-range searching. Anything stronger is very hard to use on a boat unless it is internally stabilized. Eventually you can train your eye to notice movement on the water without having to look directly at it.

In shallow waters, engine noise is something to consider as it can spook the bass and drive them off. Very loud engines can still drive them away in deeper water. If your drifting and plugging or jigging, its best to turn the motor off and fish that way. The best thing to do is minimize the problem by never motoring over the top of the fish, always go around on each of your drifts. This way the fish are never spooked by the motor noise.

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